Manufacture of laminated material from spinnable textile woven



Nov. 3, 1925. Re. 16,201 E. J. GUAY MANUFACTURE OF LAMINATED MATERIAL FROM SPINNABLE TEXTILE WOVEN FABRICS AND AN ADHESIVE BINDER Original Filed April 8. 1924 Inventor: EmLIe glGuag,

HLsActoPneg.

I Reissue 2d Nov. 3, 192 5. :RB-

P UNI-TED 's'TAr s PATENT 1 EMILE J. GUAY, or swAmrsco-r'r, MASSACHUSETTS, assrenon'ro GENERAL ELEc'rnrc I COMPANY, ACOBPDRATIO'N or NEW YORK. I

MANULIEAC'IEIJ11,13 0F LAMINATED MATERIAL FROM SBINNABLE TEXTILE WOVELI I FABBIQS AND AN ADHESIVE BINDER. Original No. 1,541,641, dated June 9, 1925, Serial No. 705,111, filed April 8, 1924. Application for reissue med September 22, 1925. Serial No. 57,975. i

To all whom it may concern: facturing standpoint and especially in con- B it known th t, 1 .131.111.12. J. GUAY, a nection with some s ecific methods of citizen of the United States, residing at manufacturing ear wieels or gear wheel Swa'mpscott, in the county of Essex, State blanks, such as or example, methods of the 5 of Massachusetts, have invented certain .general character of those set forth in my 55 new and useful improvements in the manu- Patents Numbers 1,501,027 and 1,501,028 facture of laminated material from spin-5 both dated July 8,1924, wherein the treatvnable textile woven fabrics and an aded fabric'is cut into pieces which are stacked hesivebinder, of which the following is a together and formed directly into gear s ecification. 1 wheel blanks or other-articles, the use of an Q0 The present invention"r'ela testo the adhesive binder in powdered form is not as manufacture of laminated "material from convenient as it' is in liquid form and I pieces of spinnable textile woven fabric have now discovered a method whereby I such as canvas, or cotton duck and an adheam enabled to use the adhesive material in sive binder such as the phenolic condensaliquid form and at the same time obtain a a5 tion product known generally as bakelite product wherein after the solvent is driven which is hardened by being subjected to off the adhesive is located primarily on the] pressure and heat, and especially to the apsurface of the woven fabric. I can thus in plication of the adhesive binder to the the manufacture of laminated material of woven fabric. My invention finds special the character referred to use adhesive ma- 70 utility where the laminated material is to terial in liquid form, i. e. in solution, and be put to uses requiring great strength couat the same time obtain a product as good pled with elastic1ty,'thatis, ability to deas .that which I have heretofore obtained flect without breaking, an extensive appliwhen using powderedadhesive, which as is v '25 cation of thischaracter'being that wherein fully pointed] out in my. above first men 75 the material is used for gear wheels, such tioned application is much superior to magear wheels being known as. non-metallic ,terial manufactured by the wet method in or noiseless gear wheels. v ordinary use. r In connection with my work of manufac According to my invention, I first treat turing material of this character,--I discovthe woven fabric with the liguid adhesive. 30 ered that asuperior product was produced This-is done preferably by passing the fabif in the process of manufacture the adheric through a tanlr in which the liquid is sive binder was applied primarily to the contained and results in the fabric being surface of the woven fabric as distinguished saturated or impregnated with the sol'ution.

from having it distributed throughout the The solution is used thin enough" so that Y material of the fabric, that is having the when the fabric is saturated with it"in'passfabric impregnated with the adhesive ing'through it, there will be present in the binder, as in the case when the'sheetswere fabric the desired amount of adhesive. In treated by the ordinary sO-termed wet the case of a solution ofbakelitein alcohol 40 process. This is set forth and forms the I have found a solution having a specific subject matter of my application Ser. No. gravity slightly greater; than one, that is- 492,624: filed August 15, 1921. At that of the order of 1.005 to 1.05, to be satis-' time the only commercially practical means factory. i I

of applying the adhesive to the woven fab- Following this,-I'then dry the material 4.5 ric in accordance with my invention of to'drive off the solvent. Instead of drying which I was aware was that ofapplying it it in'an'ordinary. oven, or in the open air as in powdered .formbetween sheets of the has been the common practice heretofore,

- woven fabric and that is the method parhowever, I dry it in a vacuum oven, main ticularly disclosed'in my above mentioned taining in the oven a good commercial vac- 60 prior application. However, from a manuuum, that is, a vacuum of-the order of 25 to tain. two most important results as folknown that -material in a vacuum oven With a in the case of bakelite,

- the evaporation ofthe adhesive.

lows -1. During the drying process a major portion of the adhesive is brought-to' the surface of the fabric.

2. The solvent is removed from the fabric more completely than heretofore. I then take the dried material, form it and insoluble form.

I 'As to the first mentioned resul", namely,

that of bringing a major portion of the -adhesive to the surface of the fabric, I believe this to be due to the fact that in drying the good vacuum the solvent which may be alcohol evaporates very quickly'and rapidly and the ebullition carries the adhesive to the surface of the fabric to a considerable extent. In fact the evaporation of the alcohol at ..this low pressure is-so ver rapid as to be somewhat of the nature 0 an explosion and it is the utilizing of this feature for hesive to the surface of the fabric that I consider a very important thing in conneci tion with my invention.

As to the second mentioned, result, namely, that. .ov removing more completely the solvent from the fabric, it is of :course the adhesive, i. e., changes it to.1ts hard lnfusible and insolu-,

- ble form and for this reason the extent to must not be carriedso far as to harden the adhesive to any great extent. even with theiheating which has sidered permissible, I-have found drying'the saturated fabric for t e ordinary method, the exposed surface of the adhesive tends to harden been conthat after As a rewith 'the ordinary wet method there been an incomplete driving oil of the solvent and -this has resulted in a poorer product because the presence of the solvent during the final curing process tends to cause pockets in the product. Bydrying t e saturated material 'in a good vacuum sult curingmay be used andthe low pressure. As a result I can expel practically all trace of solvent from .thesaturated material.

view illustrating used bringing the ad- .D

However,

grade and then dry it for 9 at a temperature of,about, a time by 7 and retard .with the solution and tained as already referredmuch more in carrying out my invention, referencebeing made to thedrawing.

In the drawing,

apparatus which may be in initially saturating the fabric the adhesive solution, Fig. 2 1s a d agrambe used in drying the saturated fabric, and Figs; 3 and 4 are views which illustrate the distribution, of the adhesive before after the drying process.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing, 5

indicates. a tank containing the adhesive solution for 13. 1e arbors may be motor-driven.

in tank 5 the fabric becomes saturated with the solution, and during its passage through oven 6 it becomes dried sufiiciently so it is no longer sticky. The drying in oven 6 is a preliminary or initial purpose of drying the fabric sufliciently so itcan be handled conveniently and without sticking. I have found drying for centig'rade satisfactory. may dry it for one hour in compartment 8 at a temperature of about 85 degrees ce'nti-- another hour in compartment 5 degrees centigrade. The fabric may be kept in motion continuously moving at such ing through oven 6.

Thefabric after it initially dried so "t handled conveniently is removed rom arbor 13, placed in a vacuum oven in commercial'vacuum is main-'- drive off the solvent.

I have found drying for about three hours at a temperature of from 196 to l98degrees Fahrenheit in a vacuum of from 25 to 29 inchesof mer contain spaced horizontal shelves 16 heated by hot water. At 17 is a header .to which hot Water is supplied by a pipe 18 and from Which hot may water flows through the shelves'in paral 9 Fig; 1; is a diagrammatic with and

is pur- 35 again on an arbor drying and is has been saturated to and dried to 15 indicates 5 a suitable valve. for use 'in breaking the the .oven isto be opened.

. each screen is with the fabric on them are put on the lel, and-at 19 is an outlet pipe for the hot water. 20indicates the connection for the vacuum pump 2I a vacuum gauge, and 22 vacuum when. The oven hasa door 23 at each end.

For Convenience in handling, the treated fabric as it pieces of a size to fit into the oven 15 and suitable numbers of these p eces are stacked on to wire screens 24 of a size to be put on I to shelves 16. I have found that putting about 8 pieces one on top of another. on satisfactory. The screens shelves in oven 15 after which the oven is plied to heat the oven is opened andand subjected to heavy sure being applied prior to the heating ofsubject it to.

. For "this purpose closed. In Fig. 2, 25 indicates the sheets of fabric stacked onthescreens '24. The vacuum pump is then operated to produce a' vacuum in the it. A-suitable condenser may be placed in the connection to the vacuum pump .for condensing the vapors from the oven which compr1sepr1- marily the solvent driven off from the .fab- 'ric. After the drying process is completed, A the treated fabric removed.

Figs. 3 and 4 are intended to illustrate in a. somewhat diagrammatic manner the distribution of the adhesive in the fabric-be fore and after the vacuum treatment. Fig. '3 illustrates the fabric as it comes from arbor 13 after being initially dried and shows that the adhesive is distributed throughout the threads of the fabric. Fig. 4, illustrates the fabric after it has been given the vacuumtreatment and shows the adhesive as beinglocated primarily; on the surface of the fabric. 1

The sheets of treated fabric after being" removed from the vacuum oven may be used to manufacture board or plate material from whichgear wheel blanks for-example may be cut or they may be cut'intolpiecesof suitable shape and used to manufacturearticles such as gear wheel blanks directly. In the former case a suitable number of the sheets are stacked one on'another and placed in a suitable press, such as an hydraulic press the stack'of sheets to fuse the adhesive and cure it,-to.cause it to assume its hard-infusible andinsoluble state.

square inch to 900 pressure, and while it is still in the press I heat to fuse the adhesive: and cause it to I may of hydraulic press having-hollow jaws to which steam may be supplied; 1 The heating is preferably performed comes from arbor 13 is cut in oven and hot water is supby Letters Patent.

pressure, this preswhile held under pressure I have found a pressure of from 600 pounds per pounds per square inch, satisfactory. While the stack is held under preferably 60. permeate the layers of fabric use a suitable type drive off" the solvent and .binder primarily gradually. may

supply first steam of about 10 to 20 pounds pressure (temperature about 240 F.) for about ten minutes. The temperature may be then raised by supplying steam of 40 to '50 for from 10 to 15 minutes. steam of about 110 pounds pressure (temperature about 345 F.) is supplied and this temperature is then maintained for about two hours or more'depending upon the thickness of the stack of sheets. After the heating process is completed, the steam is shut ofi and the press cooled, the pressure being maintained during the cooling process. The press may be cooled by circulating water through the hollow jaws. After the material has been cooled to'the desired extent the press is opened and the finished product reinoved- Itis then ready to be used forany purpose to which it maybe found applica- Following this ble, for example, the making of gear wheels. condensible In the case where the sheets of material are cut into pieces of suitable shape which are stacked. together and formed directly into an article the samegeneral process as to the application of pressure and heat may be followed as that just described, a characteristic feature being that the pieces of mate rial having the adhesive primarily on their outer surfacesjare subjected to heavy pressure to consolidate them and while so held are heated to fc-ure the adhesive. phase of my method is more particularly pointed out and claimed in my application Sr. No. 492,624, already referred to. Specific instances wherein the material is cut into pieces which are stacked together into moulds toform definite articles are found in my patents hereinbefore referred to.

What I claim as new and desire to'secure of the UnitedStates is 1. The method of manufacturing a material of,the'-character described from spinnable textile woven fabric and an adhesive binder, which comprises saturating the material with a solution of the'adhesive binder, drying the material in a vacuum to remove .the solvent and bring the adhesive primarily to the surface of the fabric, forming a stack from pieces of the. material after having been thus dried, subjecting the stack to heavy pressure, and then heating the stack to fuse the adhesive binder. I x

2. In the manufacture of material of the pounds pressure (temperature 285 to 295 F.) this temperature being maintained This R character described from spinn'able textile woven fabric and an adhesive hinder, the methodof applying the adhesive binder to the fabric' which comprises first saturating the fabric with a solution of the adhesive binder and then drying it in a vacuum to bring the adhesive to the surface of the fabric; 3. In the manufacture of material'of the character described from spinnable textile s Woven fabric and ah adhesive binder, the i method of applyin the adhesive binder primarily to the sur ace of the fabric which 5 comprises first satu solution of the adhesive binder, then drying the saturated material in an initial manner 7 

